A/74/44 E. Activities of the Committee in connection with the Optional Protocol to the Convention 11. As at 17 May 2019, there were 89 States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention (see http://treaties.un.org). As required by the Optional Protocol, on 22 November 2018, a joint meeting was held between the members of the Committee and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. During that joint meeting, the Association for the Prevention of Torture organized a briefing on the development of a universal protocol for investigative interviewing and associated safeguards, which was also attended by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Both treaty bodies and the Special Rapporteur pursued their cooperation through their active joint participation in several events, such as a side event during the General Assembly entitled “Universal protocol for non-coercive interviewing and attendant legal safeguards”, organized by the Anti-Torture Initiative and the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations and held in New York on 15 October 2018. In February 2019, the Chair of the Committee briefed the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture regarding the Committee and its mandate, activities and working methods. 12. An additional meeting was held on 9 May 2019, between the Committee and the Chair of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, at which the latter presented to the Committee the twelfth public annual report of the Subcommittee (CAT/C/66/2). F. Joint statement on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and cooperation with the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture 13. The Committee adopted a joint statement with the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture for issuance on 26 June 2018, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (see the web page of the Voluntary Fund at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/UNVFT/Pages/IntlDay.aspx). On 3 and 4 April 2019, Ana Racu attended a workshop entitled “Surviving torture and fighting stigma: the road to recovery for victims of sexual and gender-based torture”, held in Geneva and organized by the Board of Trustees. On 7 May 2019, during the sixty-sixth session, the Committee and the Chair of the Board of Trustees held their yearly joint meeting to discuss areas of common interest and cooperation. G. Participation of non-governmental organizations 14. The Committee has long recognized the work of non-governmental organizations and has met with them in private on the day immediately before the consideration of each State party report submitted under article 19 of the Convention. The Committee expresses its appreciation to those organizations for their participation in the meetings and is particularly appreciative of the attendance of national non-governmental organizations, which provide immediate and direct information, both orally and in writing. The Committee conveys special thanks to non-governmental organizations, particularly the World Organization against Torture for its outstanding role in coordinating the input of non-governmental organizations to the work of the Committee since its fifty-second session. The Committee has benefited from thematic briefings organized by organizations, such as: (a) a briefing on vulnerable groups in detention, held on 2 August 2018 and organized by Penal Reform International with its partners the American Civil Liberties Union and the Association for the Prevention of Torture; (b) a briefing on the protection of women from violence under the Convention, held on 4 December 2018 and organized by the World Organization against Torture with Women’s Link Worldwide and co-sponsored by Amnesty International and the Global Justice Center; and (c) a briefing on control of the trade in tools of torture, held on 15 May 2019 and jointly organized by the Omega Research Foundation and Amnesty International. 2